Shopify SEO and eCommerce SEO have unique challenges and opportunities compared to traditional SEO for blogs, news sites, or service-based websites. While they share some common SEO principles, optimising an online store, particularly on a platform like Shopify, involves specific strategies tailored to the eCommerce space. Here’s a detailed look at the differences and how to approach SEO for eCommerce websites versus standard SEO.
1. Focus on Product Pages vs. Content Pages
Standard SEO: For traditional websites like blogs or service-based sites, content is king. The primary focus is on optimising informational pages, blog posts, and service pages. These pages are generally structured around informative, long-tail keywords and offer in-depth content that answers users’ questions.
eCommerce SEO: The focus shifts towards product and category pages. Optimising these pages is crucial because they directly impact conversions and sales. Keywords are more transactional in nature, such as “buy running shoes online” or “best laptop for gaming.” In addition to optimising product descriptions, it’s important to include unique, detailed product information, high-quality images, and customer reviews to provide value to shoppers and search engines.
Shopify SEO: Shopify is designed specifically for eCommerce, so most of the SEO work revolves around product and category pages. However, Shopify also allows for blog creation, which can be used to support standard content-driven SEO strategies. The challenge with Shopify SEO is optimising these product and collection pages within the constraints of Shopify’s platform, which requires familiarity with Shopify’s built-in SEO features.
2. Site Structure and Navigation
Standard SEO: The structure of a standard website often involves a simple hierarchy: a homepage, a few main service pages, and a blog. Navigation is relatively straightforward, and the focus is on creating a seamless user experience.
eCommerce SEO: For eCommerce sites, site structure is far more complex. You’re dealing with a large number of products, categories, and often subcategories. Creating a logical, easy-to-navigate structure that allows both users and search engines to find products quickly is crucial. The goal is to minimise the number of clicks it takes to reach any product page, often referred to as a “flat” site structure.
Shopify SEO: Shopify offers built-in tools to help with site structure, but it can still be challenging. Using Shopify’s “Collections” feature to categorise products effectively and leveraging filters for product attributes (size, colour, etc.) are essential for good Shopify SEO. Additionally, customising the main navigation menu and using breadcrumbs are key tactics to enhance both user experience and search engine crawling.
3. Unique Challenges with Duplicate Content
Standard SEO: Traditional websites may deal with duplicate content issues when reposting articles, using the same content across different pages, or creating printer-friendly versions. However, these issues are relatively easy to manage with canonical tags and proper URL structures.
eCommerce SEO: Duplicate content is a common issue in eCommerce due to similar products, variations (size, colour), and product descriptions often provided by manufacturers. When search engines encounter duplicate content, it can dilute the page’s ranking potential.
Shopify SEO: Shopify stores face duplicate content issues, primarily from autogenerated URLs for products, collections, and tags. For example, Shopify creates different URLs for the same product when accessed through various categories (e.g., /collections/shoes/products/running-shoe vs. /products/running-shoe). Addressing this involves correctly implementing canonical tags to inform search engines of the primary version of a page, as well as customising product descriptions to ensure uniqueness.
4. Importance of Speed and Technical Optimisation
Standard SEO: Speed is important for all websites, but it’s often manageable with image optimisation, minimal plugins, and good hosting. Standard SEO involves technical optimisations like using clean code, leveraging browser caching, and minimising redirects.
eCommerce SEO: Speed is even more critical in eCommerce. A delay in page load time can directly impact user experience and conversion rates. Additionally, eCommerce websites often have high-quality images and interactive elements (product sliders, zoom features) that can slow down load times.
Shopify SEO: Shopify offers a reliable infrastructure with good built-in speed optimisation. However, store owners must still optimise images, use compressed files, and avoid adding too many third-party apps that can bloat site speed. Shopify also makes it easier to implement structured data (schema) to enhance how products are displayed in search results, which can improve click-through rates.
5. Optimising for Rich Snippets and Product Schema
Standard SEO: Traditional SEO may use schema markup for articles, local businesses, or events. This can enhance how information appears in search results, making it more appealing and informative for users.
eCommerce SEO: Product schema markup is vital. Using structured data, you can provide search engines with detailed information about products, such as price, availability, and ratings. This data enables rich snippets in search results, making product listings more attractive and potentially increasing click-through rates.
Shopify SEO: Shopify allows for easy implementation of product schema markup, but store owners must ensure they’re using it correctly. Many Shopify themes come with built-in schema support, but customising it for more detailed information (e.g., special offers, discounts) can give an edge in search results.
6. Conversion-Focused Content
Standard SEO: Traditional websites often focus on creating content that provides value, such as educational articles, guides, and industry insights. This content targets users at different stages of the buyer’s journey, especially in the awareness and consideration phases.
eCommerce SEO: Content for eCommerce sites is more transactional and conversion-focused. While blog posts and guides are still valuable for attracting organic traffic, the primary content on product and category pages should aim to persuade and convert. Effective eCommerce content includes detailed product descriptions, compelling CTAs, FAQs, and user-generated content like reviews.
Shopify SEO: Shopify’s blogging feature allows store owners to create supporting content (like buying guides) that can help rank for informational keywords. By linking blog posts to relevant product pages, Shopify merchants can funnel interested visitors through to purchasing decisions, enhancing the store’s conversion rate.
7. Managing User-Generated Content (UGC) and Reviews
Standard SEO: UGC like blog comments or testimonials can enhance a site’s credibility but isn’t a primary focus for most traditional websites.
eCommerce SEO: Customer reviews and ratings are crucial for eCommerce SEO. Not only do they provide fresh content for product pages, but they also help build trust with potential buyers.
Shopify SEO: Shopify makes it relatively easy to integrate review apps that display user-generated content on product pages. Properly optimising these elements (with markup for ratings and reviews) can significantly enhance a page’s SEO, making it more appealing in search results.
Final Thoughts: How Shopify SEO and eCommerce SEO Differ from Standard SEO
While Shopify SEO and eCommerce SEO share many principles with standard SEO—such as the importance of keyword optimisation, quality content, and site speed—they require a more specialised approach to address the unique needs of online stores. This includes optimising product and category pages, managing complex site structures, avoiding duplicate content, and incorporating schema markup for rich snippets.
For Shopify users, the platform provides many built-in tools to support eCommerce SEO, but store owners still need to actively manage content, technical SEO, and user experience to outperform competitors. By understanding these differences and tailoring your strategy, you can make the most of your eCommerce platform and drive organic traffic to your store.
